Dragon Prepares for Wednesday Morning Arrival

The SpaceX Dragon launches atop the Falcon 9 rocket early July 18,2016, from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Credit: SpaceX

The International Space Station and SpaceX Dragon flight control teams are proceeding toward rendezvous and grapple of the unpiloted Dragon cargo craft Wednesday, July 20, following Monday’s launch of the spacecraft atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Capture of Dragon is scheduled at 7 a.m. EDT. Installation of the Dragon to the Earth-facing port of the Harmony module will begin several hours later.

NASA Television coverage of rendezvous and grapple is scheduled for 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. Installation coverage is set to begin at 9:45 a.m. Watch live at https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv.

NASA’s Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams and NASA Flight Engineer Kate Rubins will use the station’s 57.7-foot (17.6-meter) robotic arm to reach out and capture the Dragon spacecraft from the station’s cupola work station. After capture, ground controllers will maneuver Dragon for its berthing to Harmony. Opening of the hatch to the Dragon is scheduled early Thursday.

SpaceX CRS-9 is scheduled to deliver nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies and payloads to the station, including critical materials to directly support dozens of the more than 250 science and research investigations that will occur during Expeditions 48 and 49.